August 2, 2008
If you've ever considered a career change, consider this:
I received my bachelor's degree in Business Administration (not accounting specialty). Only accountants and IT graduates seem to start off with big bucks with a business degree. So, I went back to get a master's degree in electrical engineering (EE). It only took me 11 classes more-- all online. There is a huge difference between the pay of these two degrees.
Here's how: Many universities are now offering graduate engineering degree's online. The entire degree. You watch classes that are recorded and saved on a server. You scan and e-mail homework. You arrange for someone working at your company to serve as an exam proctor and scan or fax your exams in. I've seen very few lab classes at the graduate level.
A master's degree in engineering is usually about 10-12 classes at the graduate level. The degree can be a bit different if you do a thesis / non-thesis or whether you have an undergraduate degree in the particular specialty. Here's how it breaks down in many universities (I'll talk EE here although most are similar):
M.S.E.E.-- Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. This is the typical degree. You will have a B.S.E.E. and do a master's thesis in lieu of some classes.M.S.E.-- Thesis program for someone without a B.S.E.E. Typically for people with undergraduate technical degrees other than a B.S.E.E.
M.E.E.-- Master of electrical engineering. Non-thesis degree for someone with a B.S.E.E.
M.E.-- Master of Engineering. This is the one I got. Non-thesis, no B.S.E.E.
The only difference lies in the state accreditation process if you want a Professional Engineer designation (PE). Unless you need to legally seal a document (structural engineer is most common), you will rarely need this.
You may not qualify to sit for the exam unless you have the undergraduate degree or what the state accrediting board considers the equivalent-- each state is different. Very few engineers have this designation, and very few need it.
BIG CONCERN: I hear the question now: I have a degree in basketweaving, how can I possibly study engineering? Answer: you will need to study the required undergraduate subjects on your own or your graduate advisor may make you take them after being admitted. Heinlein wrote that you can teach yourself anything if you know languages, history, and mathematics. For engineering, just worry about the math. For an EE degree you will need to know the following at minimum:
*1 semester college algebra
*1 semester trigonometry
*2 semesters physics
*Calculus including Differential Equations (usually four semester sequence)
(Note, all the above can be studied at community college)
You also need to know something about the following math (which can be learned with web tutorials):
*Statistics (through multiple regression)
*Vector algebra
*Linear algebra
*Complex variables
Get some used Radio Shack primers on amazon.com on the following:
Electrical Circuits (AC and DC)
*Electronics
*Digital Electronics
(Note, you can get enough info on the above except for statistics solely through web tutorials)
A book called Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers should hit just about everything you need to know math-wise and then some as long as you already know algebra. Get it from amazon.com -- used.
At the bachelor level, the first half of the program is general education requirements (think CLEP tests) and the math / physics. The last two years are very regimented and you take a class in most areas of the engineering discipline. At the master's level, it is totally open and you specialize a bit more.
So, the rest of the preparation will be determined by what you study. If you study Digital Signal Processing (DSP), you'll need to hit statistics really hard and get an undergrad DSP primer. If you Radio Frequency (RF) engineering (very very popular right now), you'll need to get the undergrad primers in circuits, electronics, and electromagnetics. Just get a college catalog on all necessary prerequsites or better yet, e-mail a professor and ask what you would need to know to begin study of the subject.
If you study a different path, you'll need different undergrad primers. The math and physics are necessary for any of them.
Do not be put off by traditionalists who say that you need the typical undergrad degree path. The only way to learn engineering is to do it. The degree is the credential. Don't confuse credentials with knowledge. Unless you are a design engineer, you probably won't use much of the book knowledge other than some very basic principles. My first day in an engineering job was calling nursing homes to see if they had intensive-care units in order to determine which parts of the power grid would be shut down first in the event of a blackout.
You must get the engineering degree from an ABET accredited university or it won't mean diddly-squat. The university must be accredited by a regional association (typical accrediting agency) and also by ABET. ABET accredits universities for engineering / computer / technology programs. They do not accredit specific degrees-- only the university itself for engineering.
If you don't already have an undergraduate degree, many universities are now putting significant portions of their undergraduate engineering programs online. Of course mandatory attendance classes such as labs make a totally online undergradute degree impossible.
Here's the link to the distance learning section of the university I went to:
The last I checked, their master's degrees in electrical, civil, and industrial engineering could be done completely online and significant portions of a chemical engineering degree as well.
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